Perforating machine



pt. 30, 19 H. BOOTHROYD 2,257,087

PERFORATING MACHINE Filed Jan. 25, ,1940

Fig'l.

zze i \\42 Patented Sept. 30, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEPERFORATING MACHINE Hubert Boothroyd, Leicester, England, assignor toUnited Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., acorporation of New Jersey Application January 25, 1940, Serial No.315,505 In Great Britain February 1'7, 1939 3 Claims.

commonly used for cutting ornamental openingsin shoe parts comprises areciprocating plunger carrying a die arranged to be moved toward andaway from a work support in performing cutting operations upon blankspositioned upon the support. The machine is usually arranged so thatvarious dies of different shapes or sizes can be secured to the plunger.One difficulty that has been experienced in connection with this machineis that, since the heights of the dies may vary considerably, the strokeof the plunger must be adjusted to compensate for the variation in theheights of the dies used, and if the adjustment is not properly madethere is some likelihood of breaking a die or otherwise damaging themachine. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide animproved perforating machine of the type referred to, in which thedifficulty aforementioned will be obviated.

To this end and as illustrated, I have provided a perforating machine inwhich there is a plunger movable heightwise of the work support andhaving a die releasably secured thereto,. power means for driving theplunger and a wedge forming part of the plunger for varying the physicallength of the plunger, together with means for securing the die to theplunger which can be operated in attaching a die to or releasing a diefrom the plunger only when the wedge is adjusted to render the length ofthe plunger to correspond to that required for a die of maximum heightto be used in the machine. This construction is advantageous in that iteliminates any likelihood of breakage of dies or other machine partscaused by securing to the plunger a die of greater height than that forwhich the plunger is adjusted.

These and other features of the invention are disclosed in the followingspecification and accompanying drawing and are pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, partly in section, of a cut-outmachine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front View of the upper portion of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a sectinonal view taken along line III-1110f Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IVIV of Fig. 1.

The illustrative machine comprises a C-shaped frame It! carrying a worksup-port l2 and a cutting die I4 movable heightwise of the frame towardand away from the work support in producing cutting operations uponsheet material, such as a shoe upper blank positioned upon the support.The die I4 is secured to the lower end of a plunger l6, which isslidably mounted in the frame and arranged to be moved downwardly by ablock l8 pivotally mounted upon the end of a bell crank lever 21.carried by a shaft 22 and arranged to be oscillated by a link 24 drivenby an eccentric 26 upon a drive shaft 28, the drive shaft being arrangedto be connected by means of a clutch 32 to a pulley 30 (Fig. 4). Aspring 34 extending between the block l8 and the plunger I6 is operablenormally to maintain the plunger in engagement with the lower surface ofthe block.

The die i4 is arranged for a preliminary movement toward the worksupport l2 prior to each operation of the machine, in order tofacilitate accurate positioning of the work relatively to the die. Tothis end, the plunger i6 is provided with a pin 36, which extendsthrough an'elongated slot 38 in the frame. The pin 36 is connected toone end of a lever 50 mounted on a pivot 42, there being a treadle rod44 for operating the lever in such manner as to cause the plunger tomove the die downwardly toward the work support against the resistanceof the spring, 34.

Mechanism is provided for adjusting the effective length of the plunger[6 in order to adopt the machinefor use in connection with dies ofdifferent heights. In View of this, the upper end of the plunger !6comprises a wedge member 48 positioned in a groove 45, the upper surfaceof the wedge being normally maintained in engagement with the block l8by the spring 34. The under face of the wedge member 48 isinclineddownwardly toward its forward end and rests upon a similarlysloping face forming the bottom of the groove 46. The wedge member 48 isadjusted by a threaded stem 5d passing rearwardly through a downturnedlug 52 at the forward end of the wedge member and is threaded into ahole in the plunger l6. The.

stem 50 is secured against endwise movement receive the flanges I6.

relatively to the wedge member 48 by means of a transverse pin 54 in thelug 52 and extending across a circumferential groove 58 in the stem. Thestem 58 carries a hand nut 58, positioned on its forward end by whichthe wedge member 48 can be moved transversely of the plunger I 5 tocause its upper face to be positioned at various elevations above theupper end of the plunger. A spring pressed plunger 60, carried by thewedge member 48, bears against the rear face of the nut 58 to maintainthe wedge in adjusted'position.

To facilitate the assembly of dies of different sizes in the machine,each die is secured to a base plate 62 having a pair or split studs64''(Fig. 3) extending from it and spaced apart. laterally. The studs 64fit tightly within verti cal sockets 66 formed in the lower end of theplunger I 6 and are held in position by a projecting stem 58 slidablypositioned in the plunger and extending across grooves I in the studs.Just forwardly of that portion which engages the studs, the stem 68 isreduced in diameter, as shown at I2, in Fig. 1, to a size which; is lessthan the distance between the studs. Thus, by

pushing the stem 68 rearwardly against the action of a spring "I4 behindit, the reduced portionof'the stem can be brought .opposite to thestuds, which will enable the die to be removed from its block.

It will be'understood that, if the upper face of thewedge member 48 hasbeen adjusted to extend well above the upper end of the plunger I 6, aswould be necessary to ensure that a cornparatively low die is drivencompletely through the work when the block I8 strikes against the wedgemembenand if, then, a relatively high die were attached to the plungerI8 by mistake, there been adjusted to a position suitable for theattachment of a die of the greatest height which it is expected to use,the operator thereafter readjusting the wedge member in accordance withf the height of thedie if the die is of less than the maximum height. Toaccomplish this,

'meansfisprovided for preventing the stem 68 from being urged rearwardlyuntil the wedge member 48 has been adjusted to its lowermost positionrelatively to the plunger I6. Accordingly, the upper face of the wedgemember'48 is provided 'at its opposite sides with narrow, outwardlyextending flanges '16,

against the forward face 8!) of the machine frame. The plate I8 has anopening in it through which the wedge member 48' extends and hasoutwardly extending notches formed at opposite sides of the upper end ofthe opening to plate." By reason of the engagement between thewedgemember iii and the plate 1B, any height- ,{Wise adjustment in theposition of the wedge member imparts a similar'heightwise movementwhichare arranged to engage a" vertical plateIB lying The plate I8 is looselyI} 'held in position against the face 88 by studs 82 passing throughvertical elongated slots 8 inthe When the wedge member 48 is so adjustedas to set the machine for use of dies of the maximum height, it will beadjusted outwardly to its greatest extent, so as to shorten the over-alllength 5 of the plunger I8 and the die, and in this position of thewedge member the plate I8 will occupy its lowermost position relativelyto the plunger I6.

In order to prevent a die from being removed 10 from the plunger I6 andanother substituted for it, except at such time as the wedge member 48is in the position just mentioned, the plate I8 is extended downwardlyby a sufficient distance so as to pass below the die-retaining stem, 68.The plate 18 is provided with a relatively short vertical keyhole slot86, through which the stem 58 passes when the plate is in its lowermostposition. The opposite sides of that part of the ,stem 68 lying adjacentto the slot 86 are slabbed 20 off at 81 for a distance slightly greaterthan the thickness of the plate in order to provide the necessaryclearance for the stem to lie Within the slot. When thewedge member 48occupies any adjusted position differing from its most for wardposition, the plate member occupies a position relatively to the stem 68so that the latter passes through the narrow portion of the slot;'

In that position, the shoulder 89 formed on the stem will prevent thestem from being positioned rearwardly far enough .to allow the. die tobe detached from the plunger I6. However, when the stem 48 is adjustedto its most forward posi-r 40; 90, which is arranged to be moved endwiseby a spring 92 (Fig. 4) to cause thebolt to enter a hole in'the drivingpulley 38, thus to couple the pulley and shaft together for rotation inunison. When, the machine is at rest, the clutch bolt 90 is heldwithdrawn from engagement with the driving pulley by a wedge block 94secured to a depending arm-96 of a clutch control lever 98 pivotallymounted upon a pin I80 on the frame. The lever 98. has a relativelyshort arm I62 extending upwardly above the pivot and a relatively longthird arm I84 extending forwardly in a substantially horizontaldirection.

A treadle lever I86 extends upwardly through an opening in the arm IMand. is provided with nuts I98 and II 0 threaded on it above and belowthe arm at a slightly greater distance apart than the thickness of thearm, softhat upon vertical movement'the'treadle lever will impart risingor falling movement to the arm I04, but will provide for some, lostmotion betweenthe; treadle lever V and the arm. A compressionspring II2, housed between a nut H4 at the upper end of the lever I88 and afixed lug M8 on the frame, tends normally toraise the treadle lever andto maintain the clutch control lever 98 in such position as to hold theclutch bolt 9!! in its withdrawn position. Before the die I 4 is loweredinto contactwith the work, the rearward end H5 of the lever 49 forlowering it abuts against the fort ward face"II7! of the upstanding armI82,

thereby preventing rotation of the latter ina counterclockwisedirection, as would be necessary to withdraw the wedge block 94 fromengagement with the clutch bolt 88. .75 ever, the lever H8 is moved tolower the die into When, how-' engagement with the work, its rearwardend will be raised out of contact with the arm I82, thus freeing thelever 98 for operation by the treadle lever I86. When the latter isdepressed, the wedge block 94 will be moved rearwardly out of engagementwith the clutch bolt 98, thus releasing the latter to action of thespring 92 to cause a coupling of the driving pulley 38 to the driveshaft 28.

Mechanism is provided to prevent inadvertent repetition of the operationof the machine and also to provide for a dwell of the die upon the work,if desired, as when the die includes heated embossing members. Thismechanism causes the clutch to b automatically thrown out of operationwhen the block I8 is at the bottom of its stroke with the edge of thedie in contact with the work support I2, after having cut through workpositioned thereon. The mechanism comprises a clutch release lever H8positioned at the forward side of the drive shaft 28 and mounted on atransverse pivot I28. At its upper end, diametrically opposite to thewedge block 84, the lever II8 carries a second wedge block I22 urgedinwardly by a spring I23 to engage the clutch bolt 98 during therotation of the drive shaft, and thus to withdraw the clutch bolt fromthe driving pulley when the shaft has made a half rotation and the blockI8 actuated thereby is at the limit of its downward movement. Thisarrangement is such that the treadle lever I86 must be permitted to risebefore the machine can complete itscycle and restore the die to itsoriginal raised position.

In order to cause th clutch bolt 98 to be reengaged, the arm I84 isprovided with a forwardly extending rod I24 projecting in line with thelever H8. When the treadle lever I85 is allowed to rise, the clutchcontrol lever 98 swings in a clockwise direction about its pivot(Fig. 1) and thus not only restores the wedg block 94 into position towithdraw the bolt 98, when the shaft has completed its rotation, butalso causes the rod I24 to strike against the upstanding lever H8, andthus rock it forwardly to withdraw its wedge block I22 from engagementwith the bolt thereby to allow the bolt to reengage the driving pulleyand thus to cause the drive shaft to make the second half of itsrotation.

It is sometimes desirable to prevent actuation of the clutch even afterthe die has been lowered into engagement with the work, for example incase it is desired to try out the effect of various adjustments of themachine, or to give mechanical attention to it. To accomplish this, theframe is provided with a downwardly extending bracket I26, which housesa transversely slidable rod I28 projecting horizontally towards theframe of the machine. Th rod I28, when extending far enough toward themain body of the machine, lies underneath and close against the forwardend of the arm I84 of the clutch control lever 98 and thus preventsrocking movement of this lever to operate the clutch; even though thetreadle lever I86 has been depressed. When, however, it is desired tooperate the machine in a normal manner, the rod I28 can be slidoutwardly by means of a hand nut I38 to withdraw it from beneath the armI84 and thus to allow the latter to be rocked freely by its treadle. Inorder to retain the rod I28 in either operative or inoperative position,the rod is provided with two shallow recesses, one of which is shown atI32, spaced apart along its axis, and a springpressed plunger I34 in thebracket I28 arranged to engage one or the other of said recesses. Therod I28 can also be slid toward the. body of the machine sufficiently tounderlie a downwardly extending boss I38 on the lever 40, so that thedownward movement of the die by accidental tripping of the treadle rod44 is prevented.

The work support I2 is detachably secured in place beneath the di I4 bya clamping bolt I38, which facilitates the location of beds of differentsizes and shapes in the machine.

lhe lower end of the plunger I 6 is enlarged to provide a substantialarea of contact for the base plate 62 lying against it. In order toguard against the likelihood of the fingers of the op erator beingcaught between the base plate and the frame of the machine, the framecarries a shrouding member I48 which prevents entrance of the operatorsfingers between the block and frame.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A perforating machine comprising a work support, a plunger mountedfor reciprocation heightwise of the support, a die carried by theplunger, a power-operated block for moving the plunger toward the die,said plunger having a wedge located at its upper end and engaging theblock and movable to vary the physical length of the plunger, releasablemeans for locking the die on the plunger, and means associated with thewedge for preventing release of the die from the plunger except when thewedge is adjusted into position in which the lower end of the plunger islocated at a predetermined distance from the block. I

2. A perforating machine comprising a work support, a plunger mountedfor reciprocation heightwise of the support, a die carried by theplunger, power-operated means for moving the plunger toward the die, awedge member forming part of the plunger and engaging the poweroperatedmeans arranged for movement transversely of the plunger. for varying thedistance between the power-operated means and the die, releasable meansfor securing the die to the plunger, and means operable in response tomovements of the wedge member for preventing operation of the lockingmeans until the wedge has been adjusted to space the die by apredetermined distance from the power-operated means.

3. A perforating machine comprising a work support, a plunger mountedfor reciprocation heightwise of the support, a die carried by theplunger, power-operated means for moving the plunger toward the worksupport, means for varying the effective length of the plunger, meansfor locking the die on the plunger including a stem slidably mounted inthe plunger, and a plate carried by the plunger and having a keyholeslot, through which the stem projects, arranged to prevent movement ofthe stem relatively to the plunger except when the die is located apredetermined distance from the poweroperated means.

HUBERT BOOTHROYD.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,257,087. September 50, 19in.

HUBERT BOO'I'HROYD.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1,second column, line 5, for "seotinonal" read --sectional line 1+0, for"adopt" read -adapt'-; page 2, first column, line 15, for or" read--of--; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with thiscorrection therein that the same may conform to the record of the casein the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this lpth day of November, A. .D. 19141.

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

